React Native Vs. Native App Development : What to Choose in 2018

React Native vs. Native, the latest war in mobile app development area was originally conceived in the July of 2008 with Apple’s App Store launch. Hybrid owes its origin to HTML5 web app development language. The birth of hybrid app development was done solely to make Native app development obsolete.

So now let’s dive into the comparison between React Native vs. Native. Let’s begin with the language that has been around longer than its counterpart; Native language.

Native Mobile App Development

The textbook definition of Native apps is the apps built for a specific platform which works on a particular set of devices and operating system. Now, these specific platforms could be android, iOS, Windows or any other. These apps are built in such a way that it can make use of all the hardware and software features available for that particular device and its OS. For example, if we take Apple’s iOS apps, they are written using Objective C or Swift. So these iOS apps would not work for the Android or Windows platform and vice versa.

Native apps are built to leverage the advantage of the features catered by the operating system along with the software installed on that particular platform. Native app development is done using the language and Integrated Development Environment (IDE) tools that the respective platform supports like Xcode tool using Objective-C language for iOS and Eclipse tool using Java language with Android.

Why Prefer Native App Development?

Native mobile app development provides the best performance for limited devices as they are compiled into a machine code. Both, Apple and Google provide their own respective software development kits (SDKs), development tools and interface elements giving remarkable app performance with features like multi-touch and Graphic UI animation using individual platform’s APIs (Application Program Interface).

Native apps have higher functionality as they are built ensuring the technical guidelines of particular device specifications and Operating System. This ensures faster app performance with a seamless user experience.

Sticking to the native environment is the safest option if you don’t want to worry about changing APIs and languages. There are cases where Native platforms have also updated and changed their APIs and languages like Apple did by switching from Objective-C to Swift, but these changes are mostly backward compatible (Compatible with their earlier versions of tools and language) and they provide guides for how to port between these changes.

Now let’s look at some quick Pros and Cons of Native to decide between React Native vs. Native:

Advantages of Native App Development

01.

Built-in components like camera, microphone, compass, accelerometer, etc. work seamlessly as the Native app is built in regulation with these components of the device.

02.

Documentation is easy for Native apps as iOS and Android alone have at least 2500 books written on them in addition to hundreds of articles and blogs on the internet.

03.

Fast And Responsive experience exists in Native apps as their features are built-in accordance to a particular platform.

04.

Safety is maintained as the guidelines of the respective app store have to be followed while building the app.

05.

UI/UX is unique for every platform and so building your app in accordance with the particular UI/UX of your platform will give the users a more personalized experience.

06.

App store supports native app development as this encourages their market so you will get more support from your respective App store in terms of making your app more easily accessible to users.

07.

API access is utilized at full capacity in Native app development without looking for any additional mapping over the functionality; this reduces the level of app dependency on updates.

08.

A Third Party library from other development communities is an additional benefit that you receive if you go with Native app development.

09.

Stricter Language – All of the native languages for Android and iOS are considered strict languages. Since all the Native languages are strict, it is quite easy to learn one of the other languages, even though it might take some time to become entirely comfortable with your choice of Native language.

Disadvantages of Native App Development

Different codebases have to be used to build apps on different platforms. The app built for Android will not work on iOS platform and vice versa. So, you have to work with a different codebase and a different team who know the specifics of that particular platform.

More time-consuming than hybrid app development as any work done once will serve for that individual platform only. So, to make your app for other platforms you need to work from scratch with a whole new team and different approach for another platform.

Cost increases as basically you are making two different apps for two different platforms (Android and iOS). So to get to both platforms you need to pay almost double if not more on development cost.

React Native Mobile App Development

Before going specifically into React Native we need to first learn about Hybrid app development. Apps built using Hybrid development can work on multiple platforms just on basis of one single code which was the sole purpose of its creation. Hybrid apps are built by embedding websites on a mobile platform using tools like WebView. Using HTML5, JavaScript or CSS languages, Hybrid app development can be achieved.

What is React Native?

React Native was developed by Jordan Walke in a hackathon project held by Facebook. React Native has its roots from React.JS. It was initially built to solve Facebook’s specific problems relating to their cross-platform application. React Native is an astounding solution that makes cross-platform mobile apps, not just a reality but also a brilliant solution using JavaScript programming language.

React Native app is not like the other “mobile web apps”, it is a real mobile app made using JavaScript and almost indistinguishable from apps built using Java or Objective C.

Why Prefer React Native App Development?

For every business venture, one of the costliest investments is to spend twice the amount of money for a single app to work on two leading Mobile OS platforms: iOS and Android. Initially React Native was made for the iOS platform but with time it found its way to other platforms as Android started growing as the majority stakeholder in Mobile market.

We have established that iOS and Android platforms are way different from each other. So to find a similarity was almost impossible between their codes. But in React Native the underlying framework for both these platforms is same. React Native can connect with native features of the device like the camera, accelerometer using tools like PhoneGap. React Native has enabled the concept of web development to be incorporated in mobile app development.

Just as we did with Native app development, let’s look at the Pros and Cons of React Native to decide between React Native vs. Native:

Advantages of React Native App Development

01.

Open Source gives more understanding towards the code and improves the framework with additional features.

02.

Write once, run anywhere type of code which works on several platforms. So, you have to build your multi-platform app just once.

03.

Hot reloading helps in running the app continuously and simultaneously keep deploying the latest code into the app to update. This saves time in compilation reducing the development time of the app.

04.

Shorter time to market is possible with React Native in comparison to Native app development as only one app is to be built instead of at least two.

05.

Scaling comes naturally to React Native, It is more than capable to process growing amount of works an app and can easily handle updating to higher-functionality.

06.

Lower time consumption in app development phase as the code is to be written only one-time which is used to make different platform oriented app.

07.

Cost saving is ensured as same code is used for iOS as well as Android making the app development cost almost half of the Native approach.

09.

Web to Mobile Development – It’s difficult for a web developer to go from web to mobile development. React Native helps in the transition since it is a JavaScript framework. Every web developer has at least some experience with JavaScript, which makes developing mobile apps with React Native more familiar and easier to learn for them.

Disadvantages of React Native App Development

Obtaining the license to different App Stores in more difficult compared to Native apps which have more support from these app stores.

An absence of some custom modules is prevailing in React Native at this point in time. Most of the common libraries exist in React Native but still, there could be exceptions according to your respective project. In such cases, you need to find or build your own solution for such modules.

Native developers are needed for modules which are more specified to Native building like accessing a camera, push notifications and other device sensors.

Conclusion

These are the Pros and Cons of React Native vs. Native app development. This blog was written not to give you a definite answer between both these options but to provide you the relevant facts and help you make your own decision according to your project demand. There are many benefits and drawback for both of these app development options and it’s up to you which one to select between React Native vs. Native app development.

React Native has a long future ahead but that doesn’t mean that Native app development will die any time soon. Even at present in the year 2018, Native apps are the majority stakeholders in any platform with React Native growing steadily towards market domination but it still is less than a decade away.

Author: Mayur Panchal

Mayur is the CTO of Excellent WebWorld and a Web & Mobile App development company. He is updated with all the latest trend in the mobile app technology field. He writes blogs which are helpful for businesses to implement technology in the operations. You will find him swimming whenever he is free.